2 Kings 6:29 (DRB)

Passage

So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day: Give thy son, that we may eat him. And she hath hid her son.

Nearby Context

2 Kings 6:27 And he said: If the Lord doth not save thee, how can I save thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said to her: What aileth thee? And she answered:

2 Kings 6:28 This woman said to me: Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.

2 Kings 6:29 So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day: Give thy son, that we may eat him. And she hath hid her son.

2 Kings 6:30 When the king heard this, he rent his garments, and passed by upon the wall. And all the people saw the haircloth which he wore within next to his flesh.

2 Kings 6:31 And the king said: May God do so and so to me, and may he add more, if the head of Eliseus, the son of Saphat, shall stand on him this day.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "boiled", "said", "next", "give", and "hath". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "boiled" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 28's "This woman said to me Give thy..." into verse 30's "When the king heard this he rent...", so "boiled" and "said" belong inside that flow. In 2 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "boiled" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.